As the weather begins to get warm, you may notice an unpleasant smell coming from your fireplace. As the temperature and humidity rises so can the
intensity of the smell. The culprit is usually creosote that has deposited in your chimney. Creosote is a natural byproduct of wood burning. A good chimney cleaning/sweeping will help. The real problem is the air being drawn down the chimney and the air conditioner is turned on-creating an overall pressure problem inside the house. A tight sealing, top mounted damper will reduce the air flow coming down the chimney. The chimney may also be leaking water into the masonry around the top of the chimney. Sound advice is offered from the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) as well on the topic.
Some homeowners choose to use baking soda cleaner in their fireplace to rid their homes of the smell. If the smell is still bothering you and your family, you may want to call a professional certified chimney sweep to and inspect and sweep your chimney. They can also help you with chimney dampers and water leaking concerns. We offer a basic explanation of the problem on our FAQ page.
Give our CSIA certified professionals at Clean Sweep of Anne Arundel County in Crofton, MD a call today at 410-590-4800 to have us provide you with a chimney inspection & sweeping, and rid you of this nasty smell in your fireplace.